Effects of the Key Discoveries in Science since 1800 - Essay Example

The Effects of the Key Discoveries in Science Since 1800 THE EFFECTS OF THE KEY DISCOVERIES IN SCIENCE SINCE 1800 While the mannerin which scientific discovery breakthroughs were made is complex and varied, the insightful moment that characterizes all the scientists involved is similar. Eureka, a word attributed to Archimedes, a Greek mathematician, now expresses the universal joyous moment that accompanies the discovery of something new. The history of science since the beginning of the nineteenth century has been punctuated by instances of true discovery and insight. Some of these scientific discoveries have had profound impacts on the world in the way man thinks, lives, and views the world around him. This paper will seek to investigate the effects of three scientific discoveries on the world. These are the discovery of practical electricity generation by Alessandro Volta in 1800, the discovery of the neutron by Professor James Chadwick in 1932, and the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka in 2007. Alessandro Volta was credited for the creation of the voltaic pile in the year 1800, which led him to discover the first practical way to generate electric current. According to Schlesinger (2010), this discovery also led to Volta’s later discoveries in pneumatics, meteorology, and electrostatics. This discovery had a worldwide impact since it allowed for the invention of the battery and electrophorus, which are crucial in the powering and construction of mobile devices that today’s society is so dependant. In fact, so important was the discovery that, the basic unit of electromotive force produced by batteries, or the volt, is named after him. Volta’s invention of the voltaic pile, which came later to be referred to as the battery, was crucial in later inventions of the capacitor, which enables the working of most electrical devices. The electric battery created by Alessandro Volta was one of the most important discoveries of the 19th century and has had widespread use in later centuries. According to Piccolino & Bresadola (2013), the battery enabled scientists to come up with new ideas in the electric field, which set off for the second time an electrical era. Today, Hurst et al. (2012) contends, batteries have become inseparable with various fields, including transportation, entertainment, medical science, and in the home. In the home, for example, people utilize batteries for their computers, iPads, iPods, electronic games, radios, as well as watches, all on a regular basis. In science, batteries have found significant use in powering telescopes and magnifying glasses, as well as other equipments required for the functioning of telescopes. In the transportation sector, automobiles run on batteries, as do airplanes that require batteries for the functioning of radios and devices required for the safety of flight. In the healthcare sector, batteries also enabled the invention of electrocardiograph machines, portable x-ray machines, and many other instruments used in hospitals. In fact, the light emitting diodes that are critical parts of machinery today were created using the battery. Brown (2009) contends that, without the battery, it would have been impossible for Anthony and Nicholson Carlisle to discover that water was made up of different elements. After its use to split the water molecule, batteries found additional use as dependable and safe energy sources for use in other experiments. In addition, they are also important in the study of electricity because of their continuous production of energy that allowed for early scientists to study the capabilities of electric current. Volta, using his battery, was also able to show that electricity could be transferred, setting the ground for the power grid Jin & Lin (2013). In 1932, another crucial scientific discovery was made, this time by Professor James Chadwick, who discovered the neutron. His work led him discover the presence of a previously unidentified atomic particle that was essential for the fission activity of Uranium 235. This particle became known as the neutron, and its importance could not be overemphasized, as it did not carry any electrical charge, thus allowing for the splitting of the heaviest elements’ nuclei. According to Joan (2008), the impact of the neutron was immediately felt as it completed scientists’ comprehension of the atomic nucleus and structure. In addition, it also enabled for the understanding of isotopes that possessed different masses despite having the same chemical properties. The neutron also provided for invention of probes that could go deeper into atomic nuclei as it did not suffer repulsion from positively or negatively charged particles in the atom, particularly due to its electrical neutrality. In a few years after its discovery, neutrons had been proven to be responsible for specific nuclei fission, which released enormous quantities of energy. According to Sundaresan (2011), this latter discovery owed its existence to the discovery of the neutron and had profound consequences for the peaceful and military application of nuclear energy. After his discovery had been acknowledged with a Nobel Prize, Chadwick was able to create a new department that was instrumental in the invention of the cyclotron that was cutting edge nuclear research at the time. Fergusson (2011) contends that the cyclotron acted as the precursor for present day particle accelerators, which generated radiation for further use in the production of radioisotopes that found widespread use in the medical field. The neutron found widespread use in the examination of varied materials, to treatment of tumours and determination of soil water content, as well as in nuclear engineering, production of nuclear energy, and the elevation of nuclear science to a major field. Lander (2009) says that the neutron has remained a critical component in matter’s structure and the development of particle physic’s standard model. Its discovery was an essential stage in comprehending weak and strong interactions, which are fundamental forces in the study of particle physics. The discovery of pulsars or neutron stars in 1967 was made possible by the discovery of the neutron, especially with regards to the discovery of a star’s lifecycle. Chadwick’s discovery was crucial in the development and construction of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, which is the largest particle accelerator in the world (Jin & Lin, 2013). Finally, the discovery and successful generation of induced pluripotent stem cells by Shinya Yamanaka in 2007 is probably the most important discovery yet in the 21st century. One area that it has already affected safety assessment research, especially because finding efficacious and safe drugs has always proven challenging. According to Yasushi & Kondo (2010), there is a 95% attrition rate between selection of candidates and launching of drugs, especially due to toxicity, which can be alleviated by iPS-derived cells that can be used in toxicity screening physiological assays. For instance, in cardiomyocytes, toxicity of the cardiovascular system is the most important organ that can be targeted with a resulting ~28% drug withdrawal rate (Sell, 2013). The identification of cardiotoxic drugs is currently conducted using multiple assay systems, which predominantly utilize stem cell lines like the hamster CHOs or HEK-293s in the measurement of drug effects on ion transporters and channels (Ishikawa et al, 2012). Cardiotoxic compounds can also be identified using QT and ECG elongation studies, as well as ECG hemodynamic studies, which have only been enabled by the discovery and successful generation of induced pluripotent stem cells. Despite being relatively new, this discovery has also had a significant effect on small molecular screening. Lakshmipathy & Thyagarajan (2012) contends that it has led to a dramatic improvement on earlier methods of small molecular screens, which were carried out using recombinant cell lines or purified proteins, which over-expressed the molecules of interest. These systems were used because of their ease of development, as well as their inexpensive nature, ease of configuration to required platform, and high rates of success. However, the use of recombinant systems was found not to be ideal, especially because the molecules of interest were over-expressed in cells that the molecules were not native to. This normally resulted in poor results of post-translational modifications and splice variants, in which the processes did not occur sometimes. Induced pluripotent stem cells have managed to change this in a short period of time. Ochi (2013) gives the example of neurons that express amino 3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprionate receptors for glutamate that can be generated from the induced pluripotent stem cells. Since this molecule is a challenging target due to its occurrence as four different subtypes. Sufficient quantities of each specific subtype can be produced through this technique. This approach is also applicable in other targets, including receptor tyrosine kinases, GPCRs, and ion channels that require multiple protein complexes and chaperones for full functionality (Sell, 2013). References Brown, A. (2009). The neutron and the bomb: A biography of Sir James Chadwick. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fergusson, J. E. (January 01, 2011). The history of the discovery of nuclear fission. Foundations of Chemistry, 13, 2, 145-166. Hurst, J. W., Fye, W. B., & Partin, C. (November 01, 2012). Alessandro Volta. Clinical Cardiology, 25, 11, 541-543. Ishikawa, T., Hagiwara, K., & Ochiya, T. (January 01, 2012). Generation and hepatic differentiation of human iPS cells. Methods in Molecular Biology (clifton, N.j.), 826, 103-14. Jin, D. & Lin, S. (2013). Advances in mechanical and electronic engineering: Volume 3. Berlin: Springer. Joan, L. H. (September 01, 2008). The ambiguous neutron. Physics Education, 15, 5, 315-319. Lakshmipathy, U. & Thyagarajan, B. (2012). 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